Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your teacher to encourage students to attend and engage?
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observations: I began this morning at Narragansett High School by observing an advanced freshman physics class. The teacher started with a review of the assignment completed during the previous class. At first glance the class seems quite orderly and attentive, but sitting at the back of the room gave me a different perspective. I saw a small group of students passing notes under the table, and many of the students sitting near the back of the classroom where browsing through other subjects, and doodling in their agendas. There were a select few (maybe 4 out of the 22 in the class) that were seriously paying attention to what was going on in the classroom. The teacher may not have noticed all the distracted students, but kept choosing the select few that were paying attention to answer all the questions.
Reflection: Because I am currently a student, I am not naïve to the fact that not all students are 100% attentive all the time. That being said, I do think it is an issue when the student goes through the entire class period without being involved physically or mentally with the class subject. It was the same students that were not paying attention that left the class grumbling about how they hate science, and it is pointless. Knowing that the students think that learning science is pointless, allows me to see why they choose not to be involved during even an advanced class. The students did seem very bright and I believe that if they were engaged from the start of class, that their attentiveness would be quite different. Perhaps the lesson could have been more relatable to their own everyday lives, and they would have seen more of a “point” in learning. Although this seems like an easy fix, from talking with the teacher apparently it is not. She has so much information to cover in the short block of time; she does not feel as though she has the time to spend entertaining the students to get them to pay attention. I can see where she is coming from and how the class is crammed with information, however I think it is more important to cover half the material and have the students understand it, then cover more material and only a select few involved while the rest of the class walks away disliking science.
Class Topic: Physics: velocity
Grade: 9
Observed by: Haley Winsor
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your teacher to encourage students to attend and engage?
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observations: I began this morning at Narragansett High School by observing an advanced freshman physics class. The teacher started with a review of the assignment completed during the previous class. At first glance the class seems quite orderly and attentive, but sitting at the back of the room gave me a different perspective. I saw a small group of students passing notes under the table, and many of the students sitting near the back of the classroom where browsing through other subjects, and doodling in their agendas. There were a select few (maybe 4 out of the 22 in the class) that were seriously paying attention to what was going on in the classroom. The teacher may not have noticed all the distracted students, but kept choosing the select few that were paying attention to answer all the questions.
Reflection: Because I am currently a student, I am not naïve to the fact that not all students are 100% attentive all the time. That being said, I do think it is an issue when the student goes through the entire class period without being involved physically or mentally with the class subject. It was the same students that were not paying attention that left the class grumbling about how they hate science, and it is pointless. Knowing that the students think that learning science is pointless, allows me to see why they choose not to be involved during even an advanced class. The students did seem very bright and I believe that if they were engaged from the start of class, that their attentiveness would be quite different. Perhaps the lesson could have been more relatable to their own everyday lives, and they would have seen more of a “point” in learning. Although this seems like an easy fix, from talking with the teacher apparently it is not. She has so much information to cover in the short block of time; she does not feel as though she has the time to spend entertaining the students to get them to pay attention. I can see where she is coming from and how the class is crammed with information, however I think it is more important to cover half the material and have the students understand it, then cover more material and only a select few involved while the rest of the class walks away disliking science.
Class Topic: Physics: velocity
Grade: 9
Observed by: Haley Winsor